Monday, December 7, 2009

Wow! What happened to this year? It's almost Christmas already. We had a great Thanksgiving. My quilting has had to come to a stop for a while. I've been busy cleaning and decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas and shopping for presents.
I love trees and especially Christmas trees. I have a lot! I'll have to get some pictures taken so you can see some of them. I don't have all of them out yet and I still need to get the decorations up outside. It's raining today which is great! We need it!
I need to get my tree skirt finished. I started it last year but ran out of time and didn't finish it so I need to get it done before I start back on my big Christmas quilt. I haven't been able to work on my grandson's quilt. My hands have gotten so dry with all the cleaning and dry air and one of my fingers cracked open (it sounds gross but it just looks like a deep paper cut) so I need to get it healed before I can hand quilt again.
I just finished reading The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate. It was a good read. I'm reading Foul Play by Tori Carrington now and listening to The Loop. I forgot the author's name but it's good so far. I'm not reading as much now and I'm listening to Christmas music instead of books.
I also got myself a Nintendo DS and I've been playing that a little too. I like Mario Party, the Princess and the Frog and Band Hero. I'm disappointed that Taylor Swift isn't on the DS version but it's still got some good songs.
Time to get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be another busy day!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Hi!
I sure have been busy but that's nothing new! I just finished reading The Quilter's Homecoming and really enjoyed the history! I'm reading a funny ghost story now, Merry, Merry Ghost, by Carolyn Hart. I really enjoyed her book Ghost at Work so I had to get this one too. I'm listening to Plum Pudding Murder by Joanna Fluke. A great story and I'm anxious to try some of her recipes especially the truffles! I'm also listening to Pirate's Daughter on my MP3 player. It's interesting and a different kind of story than I usually read but I'm enjoying it too.

I have one block made for my Christmas quilt, 13 more to go! I've got my pieces all cut out and marked. I just need to get it pieced! I need (512) 2" half square triangles and (256) 4" half square triangles. Here's a picture of the first block. The color isn't very good in this picture. Now I'm off to work on my grandson's quilt!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Well, I'm still working on the Christmas applique blocks. Here's another stocking block.

I'm also working on a pieced Christmas quilt that needs 384 half square triangle pieces. A friend gave me some gorgeous fabric and I just have to use it! Here's a picture of the focus fabric and some of the half square triangles. The colors are a lot prettier than they look here. I'm off to piece some more triangles!

Monday, October 12, 2009

What a great weekend! I just spent 2 1/2 days with some very fun, talented, creative women at a quilt retreat. I wish I had taken some pictures. I sooooo want to be retired so I can spend more time quilting! So many projects and so little time. I need to start looking for a project for next year's retreat! Paper piecing!
I got another block finished and I'm almost finished with another one. I'll put pictures up when I get another one done.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Wow! Our vacation in Vegas was awesome (as usual!). We got a free room upgrade at Excalibur and their pool was really nice.

Cher's show was great! The CSI Experience was fun. The T-Rex exhibit at the Venitian was amazing.

Still haven't hit it big but we had fun trying! We went to some casinos we hadn't been to before - Encore, (love the butterflies)

Green Valley Ranch (ritzy), M (classy), South Point (fun and very nice), Silverton (a little darker than I like) and the new Hard Rock Cafe (fun, very cool and great food).

We ate some very good food. My favorite is cheeseburgers and fries. Hard Rock has great cheeseburgers and the service is fantastic! Everyone is so friendly! Kahunaville also has great burgers and fries. Of course, there's always Johnny Rockets and In-and-Out Burgers. La Salsa Cantina at Planet Hollywood has yummy quesadillas and great service. We went to two buffets, both had good food and great service - Stratosphere and my favorite - the Garden Buffet at South Point.

We had a little scare as we were walking from Paris to PH. Some guy in a red car almost ran over an old man on a bicycle. The old man didn't get out of the way fast enough and the guy almost hit him again. So rude and inconsiderate! I don't know why anyone would ride a bike on Las Vegas Blvd. but he didn't deserve to be run down. Something happened at or by the Hard Rock Cafe on Friday night. There were four ambulances but we didn't hear why.
I love the water show at Bellagio!

I love Vegas!!!

I also went to one of the quilt shops featured in the Quilt Sampler magazine. Quiltique is a really nice quilt shop! I love the way it's decorated and had a nice time shopping there.
Here are some more pictures of my Christmas quilt blocks. Now I need to get back to quilting!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I've been away from my blog for a looong time! I need to get some of the cool pictures from my camera on here!
There's been so much going on! Last month a bunch of us went to a Diamondbacks game and saw Montgomery Gentry and got a Gonzo tshirt.
This weekend found us in the ER twice! My grandkids were horsing around and my grandson fell on the hardwood floor and hurt his thumb. They sent him home with a brace on his hand and two days later called and said it was broken and to bring him in for a splint. Crazy!!!
Some friends invited me to go to the Gem show in Tucson Thursday. I've never been to one so it will be another first.
We're gearing up for our vacation trip to Vegas. Can't wait! I am so ready for a vacation! We've got tickets to see Cher again. Hopefully she won't get sick and cancel this time. We also want to try the new CSI experience at MGM.
When we get back I'm having a Dove Chocolate tasting party. Have you ever had chocolate martinis? They're yummy!!!! I'm definitely a chocoholic!
As far as my quilting goes, Nate's quilt is on hold again. I've been working on a Christmas applique table runner that I'm using to teach at the quilt retreat next month. The little houses came out cute and so did Santa and the reindeer and tree. I'm working on a star block now. Uploading these pictures is a pain! The little house picture keeps turning sideways and I can't get the others to move where I want them. Is anyone else having this much trouble? I don't have time to mess with them anymore! It's time to get busy on my quilt!!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

It's time to get back to my blog. My Dad passed away and there's been so much to do and so many people to talk to that I have been totally drained.

I spent all day yesterday catching up on yard work--pruning trees and bushes and roses, mowing the lawn, planting seeds and plants (some cute little petunias) and watering. Enjoyable but tiring. I spent last Saturday working in my Dad's yard doing the same thing except for the planting. I have some honeysuckle that I need to plant but I haven't had the time to go out and get the horse manure to mix with the soil. Have you ever tried manure tea? It's great for the plants, especially in our hard, dry dirt.

I'm down to the last three rows on Nate's quilt. I am so anxious to work on some other quilts but I'm determined to get his done first! Debbie Mumm's new book looks good!

I read The 8th Confession by James Patterson. It was a very good, fast read. I also read Committed which was just the book I needed right now. Light, funny and very enjoyable. I'm also enjoying Tea at Glenbrooke and I can't wait to try out some of the recipes.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments about my Christmas quilt. I'm glad you are enjoying it. It was a challenge for a beginning appliquer but it was so much fun!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

This is my favorite quilt. I had so much fun hand appliqueing it. It's called "Welcome to the North Pole" by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.

A good friend taught me to applique and we each made this wall hanging. We started in March 2003 by selecting the fabrics for each block and placing them in ziploc bags. Our first block was the "North Pole Carryout."

The window panes were a pain!

The "Sprinkles Ice Cream Shoppe" was next. I renamed it "Nessa's Ice Cream Shoppe" for my granddaughter. This one was so much fun! It looks like the ice cream is dripping onto the tree. The fabric for the cherry and the white scoop of ice cream came from scraps of Nessa's quilt.

"Nate's Cars and Trucks and Reesa's Doll Shoppe" block was next. It was renamed for my grandson and other granddaughter. The truck wheels are little snaps!

The "Slick Sleds" block was a challenge with the curly roof!

I decided to do the Santa and the reindeer block next. We used a loosely woven fabric for the beard, moustache, hat and sleeve. That took some work, especially the moustache. It's so tiny! Surprisingly, the reindeer antlers weren't as hard as I thought they would be! Can you see Rudolph's red nose?

I'm not happy with the fabric I used on the Reindeer Barn's roof but decideded to leave it. That N took forever!!!

I love the fabric in the Marble Shop! Circles are hard to make round!

We made the "Welcome to the North Pole" block with an elf in green instead of another Santa.

I like the door on the "Elve's Recreation Center". The window panes are getting easier!

I made the "Trees and Reindeer" block next. I love making all the different trees.

The "Stars at Night" block was fun too! They look like they're dancing!

The "Elve's Bunkhouse" was different because of it's shape. This wasn't my favorite block. We were going to use red for the candy canes but the green ones look better. The roof was supposed to be three pieces but we used a print fabric and made it one piece instead.

I love the fabric for the "Mr. and Mrs. Claus's House.' It's seersucker! The little dormer windows were a challenge on this block.

The "North Pole Bakery" is made out of fabric from New York City and the flowers are buttons.

The "Three Trees" block was the smallest, fastest, and easiest block of all.

The last block was the "Royal Toy Works/Candy Cane Factory/Hats and Mittens." I don't know how I kept the white stripes on the candy cane so clean! I think the roof of Hats and Mittens looks like a Hershey's Kiss and don't you just love the door!

The blocks went together a lot easier than I thought they would. I was afraid of puckering or that they wouldn't line up.

I finished the top in one year, then I had to add all the beads and embroidery and then, hmmm, should I tell you how long it took me to hand quilt it? Okay! I finished on May 22, 2005! Hand quilting is definitely not my favorite thing to do, especially since other quilts were waiting to be started!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I'm bad! I had to put the other books I'm reading aside. J.D. Robb's new book Promises in Death came in to the library and I just had to read it! It's very good! I just love Eve's reactions to everything! What a ride! Wouldn't you just love to be able to zip up into the air and get around traffic! I have gotten behind so many slooooow people this week. Can't they just at least go the speed limit?!?!I love her reaction to Mavis's baby too! Hilarious! It's amazing how she can keep coming up with new stories! I think this is #37! Her next comes out in November Kindred in Death and then The Lost Anthology comes out in December. I need to add them to my Shelfari list so I don't forget!I need to go work in the garden. I have been waiting to rake out the rest of the leaves cause I thought I might freeze again but the weather has been so warm and the roses are starting to bud out so I might as well get it over with. I need to get a Farmer's Almanac to see if it's okay to go ahead and plant my lavender in the flower bed or if I should plant it in a pot for now.I also bought a honeysuckle and another rosemary bush for my Dad's house and I'd like to get them planted too.The grass has been so bare the last few years. I need to water it more but we're supposed to conserve water. How can you win? Maybe I need to work some manure into the soil. Won't my neighbors love me?!? The horse manure I worked into the flower beds was very good for the soil and the plants and the grass that loves to grow there (where I don't want it) instead of where I do want it.No pictures this time but my pineapple sage is starting to bloom and my miniature rose has another bud on it. Oh, I bought some red salvia plants. The leaves are so pretty and I love the red color next to the green leaves. I might buy some blue ones next time I go to town. They're supposed to be good in the sun.I'm going to be making costumes for two of my grandkids today. One needs to be a walnut and the other needs to be an owl in their school program. We picked out the fabric yesterday. It's going to be an adventure, I'm sure!Well, I guess I better get to work!

Friday, March 13, 2009

What a beautiful day! I actually sat outside and read for a little while.

The moon was huge on Tuesday. My camera doesn't do it justice! It had a beautiful gold color to it.

Monday I planted 3 pineapple sage, 6 snapdragons, an African daisy, 2 lemon thyme, a peppermint geranium, and 2 lavendar plants in pots. I'm afraid to plant them in the garden yet since it will probably freeze again before it gets hot. Here are some pictures!

I'm almost finished reading Wicked and I started three other books - An Irish Country Doctor (very funny), Capirotada (the 2009 One Book AZ book), and I'm listening to The Adventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff (a children's book about wishes). And I have at several more on the shelf waiting!

Since I have the day off, I have plans to work on my quilted purse and figure out how the WII Fit works. We'll see if I get that far! I might just go back outside and read while the weather is nice!

About Me

I'm a library technician and my main job is early literacy which means I get to share my love of books with children 0-5 years old.
I'm a wife, mother and grandmother. In my spare time, I love to quilt, scrapbook, read, garden and spend time with my family.